Anecdotes

Parts of the story are based on incident's in the life of Dennis Gansel's grandfather.

About 44 minutes into the US DVD edition of the movie, there is a scene where Albrecht pauses sadly over a picture of a fallen soldier, Torben Send. Torben was the previous editor of the school paper. There was a brief scene with the two of them before Torben left for the army, but it was ultimately cut from the film.

NaPolA is the acronym for "National-politische Erziehungs-Anstalt" or "National Political Education Institute".

The underwater shots of the lake scene toward the end of the film were done in a test basin with warm water and artificial ice.

Despite its English title "Before the Fall", this German anti-war film actually has the acronym "NaPolA" for the original title. Outside the English-speaking countries it was distributed and broadcasted under the original German title, namely, "NaPolA".

Dennis Gansel: as Friedrich's boxing trainer.

Dennis Gansel: [Actor] Max Riemelt.